MAP29: Red Shift (Valiant)

MAP29: Red Shift is the twenty-ninth map of Valiant. It was designed by Paul DeBruyne (skillsaw) and uses a MIDI rendition of the music track "Mercurius/Vayeate" from . The par time is 8:00.

Essentials
As the level starts there will be numerous monsters around you, including a super mancubus ahead, so grab the super chaingun and backpack in front of you then immediately move to a safer location. The three keys in this map can be collected in any order.

Blue key
From the start, head due west past the exit button to find a red teleporter that will send you to the platform on your left. There are super imps and mancubus on either side of you, but when you start moving you will also have to contend with two pyro knights; use the rocket launcher placed in front of you to kill them, then walk south to drop down to an L-shaped ledge with a supercharge. Some imps and suicide bombers will appear to your left; stand your ground and kill them before they get close, then follow the ledge round to find an arachnotron and chaingunners guarding a number of rockets and a button. Pressing the button will open a column near the supercharge and reveal two super mancubi - go through the south doorway of this compartment and follow the curved walkway in front of you, from which stairs will rise leading to the ledge above the button you just pressed.

Follow the ledge east to get back outside, kill any waiting imps then follow the path to another button that will open a column just below, revealing a red teleporter that will put you on top of a tower. Walk round to the east side of the tower and kill a waiting cybruiser, then press the button here to lower the blue keycard. You can run off the north side of the tower to land back in the starting area, but watch out for two arch-viles that teleport behind the central structure.

Yellow key
From the start, head east and north around the structure in front of you to confront one or more arachnotrons, then go up the steps behind them and turn left at a fork to find a large teleporter. Equip a rapid-fire weapon before entering the teleporter as you will land in an enclosure with bombers and super demons; try to kill them before taking the super shotgun in front of you, since as soon as you step off the landing point some compartments will open to reveal four or eight pyro knights. Walk through any of the compartments to leave the enclosure (there is a rocket launcher on the north side), then walk round to the south side of the enclosure to lower a wall and reveal the yellow keycard. Taking it will release a number of cacodemons and arachnorbs into the map.

Red key and exit
From the start, turn around and go up the steps behind you to the top then turn left to confront a group of zombiemen and one or two arachnotrons who are blocking your way to a switch. Flip the switch to raise a lift near the start point, activate this lift then ride it up to enter the central structure where an arachnotron guards a supercharge and another switch; also watch out for the mancubi, imps and pyro knight standing on the surrounding ledge. Flipping the switch will raise the lift to the top level but will also allow bombers, imps and chaingunners to teleport in; kill them then activate the lift again and ride it up to the overhead ledge, which you can follow round to its north side to find the red keycard.

With all three keys, return to the starting point and head due west to a button under an exit sign. Press the button to reveal a locked door (requiring all three keys) with a lift behind it, activate this and kill any waiting chaingunners before riding the lift up. Open another locked door to find some imps guarding the exit teleporter.

Other points of interest
On the east side of the map is a structure with a megasphere - when you approach the item the floor will drop away to a pit of black liquid and you will have to fight some imps to get out. Next to this structure is a building containing suicide bombers, imps, arachnotrons, mancubi and an arch-vile; fight your way past them to get an invulnerability.

Secrets

 * 1) From the start, run south-east to drop into a pit of black liquid and go inside the tower here to find a plasma gun. Look at the computer screens on the walls to see that one is blue instead of red; use this screen, then climb the rocks around the tower until you reach the south end of the tower. A teleporter has lowered here, leading to a megasphere. (sector 76)
 * 2) At the north-east part of the map, go to the ledge with three boxes of bullets. Try to jump to the ledge north from there. After that, move across this ledge for the rocks to open up, where you can collect a BFG9000 (or berserk pack on Hurt Me Plenty skill level or higher). (sector 431)
 * 3) Take the teleporter directly west of the starting point to get to the blue key area. In this red-floored region where the rocket launcher is, look east for a target switch, then drop to the floor below. Turn to the west and run over to the rocks on the west side of the map. Climb them to reach a teleporter with rockets and a supercharge. (sector 1202)

Current records
The records for the map at the Doom Speed Demo Archive are:

The data was last verified in its entirety on May 12, 2023.

Things
This level contains the following numbers of things per skill level: